Acoustic sounds in the environment evolve with the progress of civilization and technology. Over time, people have adapted to the acoustic changes and learned to recognize sounds brought on by new technologies. The sounds of a large city differ as the mode of transportation changes from walking to bicycles, cars, subways, and airplanes since each mode of transportation imparts its own unique acoustic sound. Sounds are a reflection of location, environment, and culture. For instance, the sound of the wind howling in an undisturbed canyon in Australia or the sounds of traffic or a restaurant in Times Square in New York on New Years Eve are an unique acoustic snapshot of a time, place and event.
With all the information available today, there is not a single searchable database of naturally occurring and man-made sounds that is available to the world. The acoustic information that has been saved is in many types of media formats and stored in many locations making it difficult to find and use. Moreover, the number of people preserving sounds is relatively small in relation to the acoustic information being created on a daily basis. It is likely that with the rate of change occurring around us that sounds that were widely prevalent will no longer be heard again. Preserving and making available acoustic information of all types would be of substantial benefit to mankind.